ieiMedia

Traveling to Jerusalem last summer was a life-changer. For me, what better course could there be than International Reporting? Studying out of Hebrew University, we hit the road every day and had broad exposure to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We visited numerous sites in Jerusalem, including the Old City, In addition, we visited Bethlehem, Hebron, Tel Aviv and Ramallah. We spent significant time interviewing leaders on both sides of this issue. Media outlets we visited included Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post and the Associated Press. How about museums? The Menachim Begin and Holocaust museums in Jerusalem and the Yassar Arafat museum in Ramallah were spectacular. The historical sites will pretty much ignite you, I'm sure. The culture and people are fascinating. The food is amazing - in fact, it was wonder-falafel! Many people tried to hummus a tune on Jaffa Street and elsewhere. We did have some off-time. The beaches of the Mediterranean rocked. I visited Haifa, the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Masada and the Dead Sea. The leadership of the program is outstanding. No regrets here. I still think about the experience a lot and am likely to go back at a future date. And if you pay for my trip, I'll go with you. Let's do this!

I spent a month in Jerusalem living in the dorms of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, doing everything from taking detailed tours of the Old City in Jerusalem and learning about its thousands of years of history to visiting illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. With the program I went to the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv, visited the Knesset (the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem), spoke to everyone from multiple Knesset members to Palestinians in the West Bank. I got to visit holy Jewish and Islamic sites, write stories on protests and even did my final project on a Muslim refugee camp inside Jerusalem.
I have encouraged classmates who have not yet graduated to look into other ieiMedia programs. This is what study abroad had lacked for me - true purpose and useful experience in my major. I feel like my time in Israel really added to my school experience. I have unique and well-written stories to show from it, and I feel it will make me a stronger candidate in the job market.
With all this, I also want to mention that the study part of my study abroad was similarly useful and engaging. We worked with multiple current journalists, had workshops on writing or photographing stories in the field to how current multimedia journalists cover breaking news. We weren't just exploring the whole month, there was valuable teaching time as well.

I went to Jerusalem with ieiMedia the summer before my senior year of college. I had never studied or travelled abroad, so I was a bit nervous about the program and location at first. As soon as I got there, that all went away. Jerusalem is the most amazing and interesting place you will ever visit (I can't wait to go back), and the professors are so knowledgable and helpful. I am a broadcast journalism major and had some experience from other internships and classes, but this was completely different. You are an independent reporter working in a place filled with interesting people and amazing stories... this is something that not everyone can, or will do. This has definitely set me apart from my peers. During the program, we were able to meet many people from both sides of the conflict. We went on a tour with Breaking the Silence, talked to settlers, a member of the Knesset, visited every major news organization in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and in Palestine and did much more. You are able to do independent reporting, which is so important when it comes to applying to jobs in the future. I was able to write about Breaking the Silence and reported on the Women of the Wall. We spent time in the West Bank where I, along with two other students, spent the day with a man who now works to have peace talks with Israelis and Palestinians and his family. I could, and have, gone on about this program for hours with people on this experience and why it was so important to my future as a journalist. I learned an incredible amount from our teachers who have worked as foreign correspondents for years for major publications. Having them, and their wisdom, is something that I am so grateful for. When I returned from the program, I immediately got an internship at my local NBC station. I graduate in May and will be applying to jobs as a reporter all over the country. While having this on my resume does set me apart from others, it is much more than that. I am more confident in my skills as a reporter than ever, and that is all because of this program, the professors and the experiences that they gave us.

In Cagli, you find yourself in an Italian oasis. Free from a natural drive to fill you touristy dance ticket, you take pause in the piazza, savoring you cappuccino which you have learned to properly order and receive honoring the customs of your congenial host. Allowing the slow movement to seep into your sinus, Cagli and its people becomes your Brigadoon.
The course immerses you in village life through communication skills, conversational Italian, enhanced with insight into cultural norms, facilitating your ability to negotiate daily transactions and begin organically building relationships. Photography lesson strengthen your ability to capture the tranquil beauty of the place, here, now and for the rest of your life. Learn to acclimate and negotiate cultural dissonance, drawing down the boundaries that distance us from one another. Gain tolerance developing mutual respect and broadening appreciation for differences, enriching awareness through intentionally experiencing alternative modes of living and celebrating life. Friday night in Cagli, the old town becomes a vibrant street market, alive with traveling vendors, selling their crafts and culinary delights. On this particular clear, moonlit summer night, a pair folk dancers delighted a gathering audience in the piazza as they portrayed life and love through a circle dance, serenaded by a lively violinist and a tambourine player. The light footed lady and gentleman joined hands in the center of the circle for a twirling embrace before parting to trace the circumference, briefly meeting and parting time and again, a breathtaking celebration of the human heart. Take pause for the timeless experiences.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I needed to broaden my view of the world. Through this program, I was forced to examine and understand my environment first, before communicating in a thoughtful, productive manner - a key principle in being an effective professional and an all-around better person.

Two years ago, I joined this program expecting nothing more than just another class in an overseas setting. The program proved to be an investment into the self that continues to pay dividends to this day. Through this program, I learned that many of my views and assumptions of the world were often tunneled to the goal of merely getting through the day, conditioned by experiences of everyday life. I learned that traveling to off-beaten paths was a direct challenge to living day-to-day, as the experience altered my view of the world, therefore, altering the platform of understanding from which I communicated from.

Of all the courses I took as part of the Communications and Leadership Studies program, this study abroad course proved the most valuable. From a personal perspective, the process of the program allows you to set yourself free from what you think you know about life and world, and adopt a wiser view that is closer to the truth.